


Jane Doe

by Poseur (watercolor_clouds)



Category: Yuuri on Ice - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Fantasy, Grim Reapers, M/M, Magical Realism, Platonic Relationships, Prison
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 09:13:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14541486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watercolor_clouds/pseuds/Poseur
Summary: Viktor is a grim reaper assigned to take the soul of a prisoner on death row. Although he's taken hundreds of souls throughout the years, Katsuki Yuuri awakens an empathy Viktor thought he lost years ago.





	Jane Doe

The lamp posts illuminated a yellow hue. It wasn’t a bright yellow color, but a muted almost sepia color. It was a warm light that attracted the moths to it; Ugly brown moths that weren’t as beautiful as the white butterflies that spring welcomed. The ugly brown moths huddled next to the lamp posts, hoping to catch some of their warmth.

The traffic lights flickered much brighter that than the lamp posts, but they did not attract the ugly brown moths. The moths liked the bright yellow color the traffic lights radiated, but not the green one. The yellow light reminded them that life could be slow and run at an easy pace. But the green one was much faster. The green light reminded them that life was short. And the red light meant the end.

It was a sad cycle of life, but it was what humans chose for themselves. The moths appreciated how life can be slow and meaningful, but humans preferred the green light for some reason. They had become consumed by a materialistic culture that lead to sadness. And Viktor couldn’t understand that as a grim reaper.

Unlike the moths, humans kept going faster and faster. Testing limits that did not need to be tested.

How sad and pathetic, Viktor thought to himself as he walked through the empty streets. 

On the grey cement, was one of the ugly brown moths. One of its ugly brown wings was injured and it could no longer fly and embrace the lamp posts’ warmth. He stepped on the moth so it wouldn’t have to see the color red any longer. There wasn’t much he could do for the creature really. The moth would have been eaten alive by a wild bird, so Viktor considered killing it a mercy kill. He did sometimes wonder if he would have down the same for a white butterfly.

No. He probably wouldn’t have. Someone would have certainly tried to have healed the white butterfly. Whether or not it worked was a different question. But certainly someone would have tried to save it, unlike the ugly brown moth.

Viktor continued walking, believing he did the best for the ugly brown moth. He didn’t see the little girl who reached for the crushed insect, nor did he care.

 

 

──

Today was going to be a relatively easy day for Viktor. He was assigned by one of the head grim reapers, Chris, to collect the soul of a young man who was placed on death row since the age of eighteen. His name was Yuuri Katsuki and he was now twenty-two years old. It was a pitiful task actually.

Yuuri Katsuki was actually innocent of the conviction he was given; He did not murder the poor missing child, but the officials at the time needed someone to blame and cover up their inefficient search. One of the deputies had ruined the integrity of the crime scene, and needed to find someone to blame for the crime to appease the worried parents and city. Sadly,Yuuri Katsuki just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Perhaps he would have been given some pity considering his age, but the jury was unable to relate with the son of Japanese immigrants. Such a pity to be honest. Yuuri would have been a great skater and represented the country well one day.

The grim reapers would often laugh at these type of cases. Humans mistakes would eventually be revealed to them the moment they died. Monetary transcations could not be used in heaven or hell. These corrupted souls didn’t get the chance to pass on and were damned to remain souls wandering the earth. With no one remembering them anymore. 

 

Viktor decided to take the long way and tour the prison before meeting Yuuri. He could simply appear in front of Yuuri and collect his soul, but he was rather bored and wanted to explore instead.

Like all the other prisons he visited, this one was rather bleak and grey. He always wondered why humans made prisons so depressing and so dehumazing, but they were rather strange creatures. Viktor didn’t like the fact that this prison in particular had such small windows. And the only large ones had giant black bars covering them. He knew what the barred windows were meant to prevent and hoped that he didn’t need to collect any more souls during his stay.

He did just get a new coat and he didn’t want to get it stained; It was a tawny color and the crimson would certainly make it a muddled brown like the ugly brown moth he killed earlier. Plus, Viktor wanted to try out some of the food the wardens had; The food was much better than the prisoners’. The head warden had a nice turkey club sandwich for lunch as well as a glass of imported soju juice which Viktor thought was delicious.

After he ate the sandwich, he decided to see some of the cells. There were prisoners yelling at each other over which bed they got. Some were rather silent, opting to scratch out the days they were imprisoned; Those were the inmates that managed to retain some kind of sanity in the hell hole they were in. The others remained staring through the small windows, staring at the birds that flew by. Viktor did notice that one particular inmate had appeared to lost all hope. The young man’s name was Seung Gil Lee and Viktor had a feeling he might have an extra assignment.

But he continued walking.

Seung Gil deserved to live. 

Even if it was just one more day.

 

 

 

Yuuri Katsuki’s room was at the far edge of the prison. He assumed it was because he was on death row and the wardens didn’t want him to mess with the other prisoners. Solitary confinement was rather depressing and not many chose it willingly. It meant that you were isolated from everyone and for the most part, humans craved interaction with others. Even Viktor felt lonely at times and he called Chris over to feel like he had a companion. He didn’t want to be alone when facing the thought of his eternal life. It was nice talking with Chris. The older grim reaper had some interesting stories to tell.

In Viktor’s eyes, Yuuri Katsuki was rather plain. He had short black hair and muddy brown eyes that were covered in old blue frames. He couldn’t have chosen a more fashionable pair of glasses? There were no tattoos in sight, so he wasn’t rebellious either. Yep it was another boring mission.

The grim reaper decided to make a fancy entrance to lighten up the cell. He decided to make himself appear from a misty haze and made a clap of thunder. Surely that would surprise Yuuri. But it didn’t the prisoner didn’t even look impressed. Yuuri had a bored look on his face.

“Hello. I’m a grimreaper.”

“Oh.” Yuuri interjected. He continued to lay on his bed, ignoring Viktor. The prisoner continued flipping through the pages of the book he was reading.

 

Well this was going to be a pain in the ass. “Are you well?” Viktor asked the young man. The grim reaper knew very well that the young man was far from being well considering he was on death row for a crime he didn’t commit. Despite all these years, he was never able to fathom why humans were so obsessed with the death penalty. Whether or not it was a permissible act. To Viktor and the rest of the grim reapers, death was inevitable so there wasn’t really a reason to fear it. A person’s time came when a grim reaper came to collect their soul. 

“You still haven’t answered my question Yuuri Katsuki.”

The young man chuckled a little. “Well I’m dying in a week so I guess I’m not doing well. How has your day been Mr. Grim Reaper?”

Yuuri’s comment surprised Viktor. No one had really asked him how his day was. A majority of the souls he had collected over the years for the most part begged for their soul. Begged for an extension to live just one more day. Some would even curse at him despite knowing their day had come. Their bodies could no longer handle any more abuse. Once in a while a soul would completely be fine with Viktor coming to collect them. 

They were the souls that were already extremely exhausted. The souls that were fine with dying and simply wanted to rest and sleep their nightmares away.

And sometimes they would beg for their soul to be traded for someone else. A cry to save someone they loved. But that was rare and a tough wish to grant, even for a grim reaper.

 

Viktor faked a smile. “Hmm...well besides telling people they’ve died, my day’s been pretty good.” Surely now Katsuki Yuuri would freak out and begin to realize that death had literally manifested before him and was going to take his soul.

“That’s good to hear,” Yuuri replied and he covered half himself in a grey blanket. He then grabbed another comic book and began to skim through it. “Oh...you’re still here.” The young man’s tone showed that he was puzzled that Viktor had not left his small prison cell.

“Well I’m here to collect your soul. It is my job as a grim reaper after all,” Viktor responded with a stern face. 

“I figured you’d wait until the day of my execution to collect my soul or whatever you grim reapers do. I mean it’s only five days away and it’s a Wednesday. Not the worst day to die but well it’s still better than a Sunday.” Yuuri continued to skim through his comic book. “Sunday is the worst day since it always feels the shortest.”

I guess he’s the type that has accepted death, Viktor thought. No begging. No crying. No running away. “I guess you’re right about Sundays. They suck. What are you reading by the way?” The grim reaper had to admit he was curious. What kind of book would distract someone from worrying about their imminent death?

The prisoner flipped to the next page. “It’s an old manga I got from one of the volunteers. It’s about a girl whose life is changed by a pair of grim reapers*. The irony,” Yuuri said with a blank face. “Changing the topic just a little bit, do grim reapers grant wishes?”

“We do occasionally. It would depend on how the soul spent their life. Obviously souls that have committed murder or another heinous crime don’t have the opportunity to ask for a wish. Souls that have lived completely self fulfilling lives usually don’t ask for a wish because they’re so happy, so that would be a different case. But considering your circumstances...you qualify for any wish to be granted except for extending your own life. Your death cannot be rewritten anymore.”

Yuuri smiled a little. “I think my wish wouldn’t be that hard to grant. I’m not asking for you to save me from this hell.”

“Well then Yuuri Katsuki...what do you wish for?” He was sure that Yuuri would ask for vengeance against the person that wronged him. After all, Yuuri would become a martyr for a crime he had not committed. For a moment Viktor remembered a certain soul. What was his name? He couldn’t quite remember but the soul had asked for his ex girlfriend’s life. Before leaving him, the woman had taken everything and left him with a huge debt. The soul literally worked himself to death and Viktor granted him his wish. So he assumed Yuuri would do the same.

The prisoner took a moment to answer Viktor. Despite the glasses, Yuuri’s eyes showed a little hesitation and Viktor didn’t blame him. Had everything gone well, Yuuri would have lived a good long life. He would have gotten a safe job in the government sector and found someone to be with. It would have been a good life according to the values humans had developed over the years. Such a shame that Yuuri was condemned and sent to die. Even if he wouldn’t have been happy.

 

 

“I want you to be my friend.”

“Your friend?” That was a first Viktor had to admit. “But-”

 

“Just until the moment I have to die,” Yuuri stated. “That’s all I ask for.”

**Author's Note:**

> Series is now called Jane Doe.


End file.
